Pune sky sign policy takes a hit as falling billboards are disasters-­in-­waiting

The collapse of the billboard at the Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk near Junna Bazaar on Friday, killing four, injuring at least six and destroying 10 vehicles has raised the question about whether the civic administration’s Sky sign policy, designed to bring all billboards under strict control, needs to be implemented. The policy is currently with the state government awaiting clearance.

On Wednesday night, October 3, two billboards collapsed in Kalyaninagar because of heavy rainfall during the night. Because the billboards collapsed at night, there was no one on the roads so no injuries.

Sanjay Bhosale, Shiv Sena leader, says, “I have filed complaints about illegal billboards in Kalyaninagar, but the administration did not take any action and two days ago, it collapsed.”

Avinash Bagwe, Congress leader, says, “The PMC administration is waiting for such accidents as they are not learning lessons from collapses in the past. I hope now they will learn after four deaths. All illegal hoardings at busy chowks and on old buildings need to be removed.”

Vijay Dahibhate, head of PMC’s sky sign department, says, “As per the PMC record there are 1,886 legal hoardings in the city as of September 30, and 114 illegal hoardings have been identified. PMC has issued notices to these illegal hoardings.”

Dahibhate said that the PMC conducts a structural audit of all billboards in the city in every two years.

“At Kalyaninagar there is little dispute over jurisdiction and PMC has tried to take action on these billboards,” Dahibhate said.

Bagwe, however, claims that there are more than 1,000 illegal hoardings in the city.

NCP leader Chetan Tupe and Congress leader Avinash Bagwe said that a case of murder should be filed against the Railways for their negligence.

Sky sign policy

The PMC has framed a sky sign policy for the city and submitted it to the state government for final approval. However, Bhaskar Jadhav, minister of state for urban development, said that once a state-level policy is decided for sky signs, a separate policy for Pune will not be allowed. A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani on illegal hoardings in Pune city.” is currently being heard in the Mumbai high court.

Highlights of Sky sign policy

- Distance of billboard from main chowks and main roads to be fixed

- The billboard should not obstruct eyesight of vehicle driver

- Fees for installing ‘sky signs’ to be decided by policy

- Separate rules for LED billboards

- Size of billboards to be fixed

- Mandatory to put PMC permission on the billboard with licence number.

Fatal human error with cognisance of sensible planning

The death of four commuters due the collapse of the frame of a billboard, 40 feet in height, at the Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk near Junna Bazaar is being attributed to a fatal human error by both, the Railway authorities and the Pune police.

A senior Railways’ officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The agency workers who were carrying out the work, instead of cutting the tall frame from above the mid-level, started cutting it from the bottom. As a support to the giant frame, a few strings were tied to the frame from behind. However, as the work of cutting the frame from the bottom progressed, it caused an imbalance due to the weight and the strings which were tied from behind broke all of a sudden, causing the unfortunate incident.”

Vijay Dahibhate, chief of PMC’s Skysign department said, “We had issued nine notices to the Railways asking them to remove the hoarding at the Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk, however, received no response from them. Also, the Railways did not allow us to take any measures towards removing that billboard.”

“A little cognisance while carry out the cutting work could have avoided this fatal accident,” said a police official, also requesting anonymity, adding that the Railway authorities will take needed action against the private agency awarded the work of cutting the frame of the hoarding.”

From a funeral to a funeral

Samruddhi Pardeshi (18) was returning from Alandi in an autorickshaw, after conducting the last rites of her mother. It was her autorickshaw at the Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk that the billboard collapsed on. She was in the rickshaw with her brother, father and grandmother. Her father was severely injured and passed away in hospital. Her brother and grandmother are in hospital injured. Samruddhi Pardeshi escaped unhurt.

HC asks state, Pune authorities : respond to hoarding collapse

The Bombay high court has directed the Chief secretary, municipal commissioner and collector of Pune to respond to the hoarding collapse on Friday morning at Mangalwar Peth area of Pune which left four dead and six injured. The directions were issued after the advocate for a petitioner who filed a contempt petition against the above mentioned authorities for not taking cognizance of illegal hoardings in Pune city informed the court that his client could not attend the hearing due to traffic snarls in Pune due to the incident.

The division bench of justices Abhay Oka and Mahesh Sonak was hearing contempt petitions dealing with violations of court orders regarding illegal hoardings in various cities of the state. The court had passed orders for removal of illegal hoardings in a bunch of public interest litigations from across the state.

Advocate Ravindra Pachundkar, appearing for Pune resident and activist Qaneez Sukhrani informed the court that in light of the deaths in Pune due to the fallen hoarding, his client was unable to attend the hearing. When asked, Pachundkar made an oral submission that the hoarding was perceived to be illegal and had not been removed. He however confirmed that the deaths and injuries had occurred due to the hoarding collapse.

After hearing the submissions, the bench directed Pachundkar to file an affidavit in this regard as well as directed the state’s advocate to take instructions about the hoarding collapse and the casualties from the three authorities and posted the matter for hearing on October 15.